A chiropractor who is a former state representative and an ear, nose and throat doctor who is currently a state representative both want to be the next 19th District state senator.

Mike Callton, the chiropractor from Nashville who represented the 87th District for three two-year terms, and Dr. John Bizon, the ear nose and throat doctor from Battle Creek who is the state representative for the 62nd District, will face each other in the Republican primary on Aug. 7.

Sen. Mike Nofs, a Battle Creek Republican, cannot seek re-election due to term limits. Democrat Jason Noble of Middleville and Libertarian Joseph Gillotte of Lyons are also running for the state senate seat.

The 19th District includes Barry, Ionia and Calhoun counties.

Callton, 60, has been in politics for 25 years, working his way from village council to school board to county commission and then on to state government. He was elected as a state representative in 2010 and served six years before he was term-limited out in 2016.

“It was exciting to be a part of legislature at that time, because we had just lost 800,000 jobs and we had a 15% unemployment [rate],” Callton said. “We got lots of the jobs back, and our unemployment has gone from 14.9% to below 5%.”

"I consider myself a conservative, even though I worked on this medical marijuana [bill]. Being a conservative doesn’t mean we put our head in the sand on certain contemporary issues," he said, noting he does not support recreational marijuana.

Callton wants to return to the state legislature because “there’s more work to be done.”

“Look at our roads,” he said. “Look at the cost of car insurance. Look at the opioid crisis.”

Before Bizon, 66, got into state politics he was president of the State Medical Society.

In 2014, Bizon won the state representative race, flipping the long-Democratic 62nd District. He was reelected in 2016, beating Democratic challenger Jim Haadsma by about 200 votes.

“I think we have represented Calhoun County well,” Bizon said. “We have brought back some significant projects to the area…whether in schools, trails or roads or the expansion of Western Michigan University [and] looking out for Albion and the medical needs of that community.”

Bizon wants to fix what he calls a failed health care system.

“Nearly $1 out of every $3 we spend goes toward our Medicaid program here in the state, and, if you ask, 'Is that a program that is effective at getting us to being a healthy state?' I would argue that we haven’t done very well by that measure,” he said.

Both Callton and Bizon are concerned about the condition of the roads not reflecting the additional spending by the state.

“I take a peek at our roads, and I have to say the quality of our roads do not reflect the increased spending we have had, and I find that disappointing at best,” Bizon said.

“I would love to get back to the original tenets they had when they instituted auto no fault,” Bizon said. “They wanted to have a system that was affordable and that took care of the patient if they were injured. We now find that anyone who touches the auto no fault system has learned how to gain the system over these last 30 years.”

Contact Kalea Hall at (269) 966-0697 or khall@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow her on Twitter at @bykaleahall.